US hands over Guantanamo inmates

BBC NEWS

US hands over Guantanamo inmates

Seventeen Afghans held in Guantanamo Bay have been handed over to the Afghan authorities in the capital, Kabul.

Afghan intelligence sources told the BBC that the men will questioned until be Wednesday, when it is expected they will be re-united with their families.

Some of them complained of mistreatment by the US.

So far over 200 people have been freed from its Guantanamo Bay base in Cuba. About 500 terror suspects remain there.

The released men - nearly all bearded and most wearing denim jackets - were handed over to the Afghan authorities on Tuesday.

A Turkish man was also freed after three years at Guantanamo and flown back to the Incirlik air base in southern Turkey where he was handed over to police, the Anatolia news agency reported.

Correspondents say it is unlikely that any of the men will face charges.

Poorly treated

The Afghans were urged by Chief Justice Fazl Hadi Shinwardi not to complain about their treatment in Guantanamo Bay because it may jeopardise efforts to release other Afghan prisoners.

Our government should also work to release hundreds of innocent Afghans who have been in jail for crimes they have never committed
Abdul Rahim Muslimdost

But some of the men had time briefly to tell reporters that they had been poorly treated.

"There was a lot of bad treatment against us, but this is not the time to tell you," Abdul Rahman, who spent more than three years at Guantanamo Bay, told the Associated Press news agency.

Another released inmate, Abdul Rahim Muslimdost, told the AFP news agency that he had suffered "indescribable torture" while in Guantanamo Bay.

Mr Muslimdost complained that the Afghan authorities had not done enough to help them.

"Our government should also work to release hundreds of innocent Afghans who have been in jail for crimes they have never committed," he said.

He said that Pakistan had done more to help its own nationals in detention.

'Enemy combatants'

Foreign groups including the International Committee of the Red Cross have complained to US President George W Bush about conditions endured by detainees at Guantanamo Bay.

ICRC officials regularly visit the US naval base, and a leaked report by the ICRC earlier this year was said to have found evidence of torture tactics.

In late March the Pentagon said 38 Guantanamo detainees were no longer considered "enemy combatants" - most of them were from Afghanistan and Pakistan.

There was a lot of bad treatment against us, but this is not the time to tell you
Abdul Rahman, released Guantanamo prisoner

Pentagon spokesman Maj Michael Shavers said on Tuesday that the 17 Afghans and the Turk had been cleared during recent military tribunals.

Five others had already been sent home and another 15 were awaiting transfers home, he said.

The US military freed 80 Afghan detainees in January ahead of the Muslim festival of Eid.

On that occasion officials first said the men were coming from Guantanamo but it later turned out they had been held at the Bagram airbase in Afghanistan.

Many detainees released from Guantanamo have been repatriated on condition they would be held in their home country.